Russell Simmons Defends JAY-Z from Antisemitism Allegations

JAY-Z’s latest album 4:44 only dropped last week, but it has made huge waves and inspired new controversies in this short amount of time. Certain people have accused the rapper of antisemitic remarks in his “The Story of O.J.” track.

“You wanna know what’s more important than throwin’ away money at a strip club? Credit / You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America? This is how they did it,” JAY-Z raps.

To clear JAY-Z’s name, fellow mogul Russell Simmons took to social media to defend his friend, referring to the haters as “mischief makers” and writing that it was “blacks and Jews” who partnered to promote “good business and financial well-being” in the hip-hop community when no one else would.

“Jay Z was celebrating that bond that was built when no other community gave and continues to give us as much support in our fight for liberation in this very white country,” Simmons wrote. “To all those focusing on negativity go buy the album, it’s focused on positivity.”